Hopping to it

Remember this picture?

This is a close-up and below is what it looks like from the trail.

 To refresh your memory it was taken on the bike trail about halfway between the trestle bridge and Winkleman's Switch. Jason and I walked the trail last Sunday and in our conversation, Jason said he thought he had seen Hops growing on the trail. He said it was a vine and growing over a tree stump and he thought it looked like hops. To fill you in a bit further, Jason does not read the blog. What? you might say!  Well, Jason is not a computer guy so he saw the "hops" in person as he was riding the trail and not from seeing it on Mom's blog and therefore had no idea I had seen it too and taken a picture of it. So we got our stories together and I looked up images of hops on google and by golly he is right! It is hops. How or why it is growing on the bike trail remains a mystery.

Lost 10

Had to add one more tidbit! My surgeon asked several things from me before surgery and I achieved every one of them!! Including losing 10 pounds! Whoo Hoo!

For those who wonder what I did, I can make it simple.  No processed food. I ate 3 meals a day, nothing between meals or after supper. That is all!!

Our Souls at Night

Keri had the book and loaned it to me. It was a very quick read. Took about 1 day to read it. It grabs you from the beginning. So last night Butch and I watched it on Netflix. They followed the book very closely till about midway through and I was okay with that because I did not like the ending in the book. They made a much better ending in the movie.

Our Souls at Night
Addie Moore and Louis Waters, a widow and widower, have lived next door to each other for years. When Addie tries to make a connection with her neighbor, the two begin sleeping in bed together platonically, with the innocent goal of alleviating their shared loneliness. As their relationship deepens, however, they each deal with grief and loss, and a real romance begins to blossom.

Release date: September 29, 2017 (USA)
Originally published: 2017
Director: Ritesh Batra
Authors: Michael H. Weber, Scott Neustadter
Production company: Netflix

Before Surgery

I had an appointment with Dr. Stephanie Morgan, my surgeon, on Friday to learn of the particulars of the surgery on the 10th. So now I am on information overload and busily making lists so I can remember it all. It will take place at Methodist Hospital in downtown DesMoines. It is a very long surgery. I must be at the hospital at 5:30 AM. The downside is not much sleep. The upside is there won't be much traffic at that time of day. Surgery will begin at 8:00 AM or thereabouts and will take 4-6 hours, 3 hours in recovery room and back in a hospital room at around supper time. Very long day for Butch. She even said it is much harder on family than the patient. 24 to 36 hours in the hospital after the surgery. So may not be home until Thursday or Friday depending on how things go.
She emphasized that there will be a full 6 weeks of recovery. No leaving early for Texas. My 6-week appointment to get dismissed to make the trip is November 20th. I am guessing we will be on the road on November 21st if Butch can make it work. He will have all the duty of loading up for the trip.
Butch will be in charge of the phone during this period, so if things do not go smoothly keep that in mind. He will have a training session or two beforehand.

There will also be a gap in computer and blog entries. The way I have been lately you should be used to it by now.

So we are hoping for a warm fall...

Georgia's birthday

Leo, Butch and Barb O'Roake went to their cousin Georgia's 80th birthday celebration yesterday. Butch even gave up a day of watching the Presidents Cup for it. Imagine that!

PS I stayed home and cleaned house and Keri was babysitting with 2 of her grandchildren.

Another Friday rolls around...

I have an appointment late this afternoon to find out the details about my surgery on the 10th. So Butch had time to walk nine holes of golf and I rode out to Rogers Road. Mickey had asked me about where walnuts were on the trail so I paid close attention today and then sent her this message.
     If you drive out to where 255th street intersects with the trail (near Winkleman's Switch) and look north on the trail you will see an orange flag and there are walnuts there. I paid close attention today and they have put an orange flag near all the walnut trees on the trail. I do not know if that was for safety or harvesting of walnuts. 

If you go out and park on 252nd street near where Murphy's place is, north of the big bridge, it is exactly 0.53 miles to the first nice walnut fall. That would be on the south side of the trestle bridge. If that still seems too far to walk you can pull into Murphy's driveway and follow the trail up to very near the bridge, walk across the bridge and it would be less than a block to the walnuts. Happy Harvest!

As I was returning back to town I saw this apparition coming toward me. It looked like a floating man! He hopped off the front of the bike and then I could see a woman peddling a very decrepit bicycle while carrying a filthy once-white duffle bag over her shoulder. I said to her, "So you think that is going to work for you?" She said, "Oh yeah." They were both in need of some personal hygiene and a large amount of dental work. I would say they had about 3 teeth each and those were dark. I was impressed with her bike riding ability. Balancing a 6 ft. man, even a skinny one on the handlebars of a bike and carrying a fair-sized duffle bag over your shoulder at the same time made her a wonder woman! I wonder where they get their METH. And I wonder where they were headed. They were at the trailhead when I encountered them. In other words, they hadn't made it out of town yet.

Change in the Weather

There has been a change in the weather. It has cooled off and we have had about 3/4 inch of rain. We desperately needed it and it hasn't been enough to change our drought status but every little bit helps.

I didn't get a ride nor a walk in yesterday not because there wasn't an opportunity but because I was on tech support with Hulu. After three separate sessions, we came up with an answer but not a solution. Don't worry about it in regards to Hulu for you, as the problem is peculiar to us.

This will set me off on another angle or bit of advice perhaps. When you have a problem with a device of any kind do not be afraid of tech support. It is their job and you are the customer who is always right. And if it still perplexes you invite a friend like me over and we will work on it together.

By calling tech support you can save yourself days, weeks or even months of frustration. I often say that I do not have all the answers but I do have ideas about where I can find them.
For people with Netflix, there is a new Netflix movie being released on Sept 29th, Friday, called Our Souls at Night with Robert Redfern and Jane Fonda.
It is about finding love when you thought you were too old to have that happen. It looks like a good one.

I did manage to get my walk in this dark and dreary morning and I did get misted on a little at times but not so much to create a problem for me.
I have two appointments later this week. Thursday is my last physical therapy session before surgery and Friday is my pre-op appointment with the surgeon. I have done everything asked of me to get ready for it. The waiting has been the worst of it. The procedure is called Sacral Colpopexy for those of you with enough curiosity to look it up.

Hulu

We are starting a 30 day free trial of Hulu. I tried Hulu way back when it was free and I was not impressed but it has been more than a decade so I thought I would see what I think about it now.
I am impressed by their wide range of offerings. For instance, Butch and I missed the first episode of Dancing With The Stars and Hulu carries TV shows and so we were able to see it after the fact. I am impressed how they handle commercials. You still get commercials if you go with their cheapest package ($7.99 a month) However they show all the commercials in the first 30 minutes of the show and it is commercial free after that AND they tell you how many commercials there will be and how long it will take! It is like knowing how far it is to the next town, much easier to take when you know.
I signed up for their free month because I wanted to watch The Handmaids Tale. I have read the book, listened to it actually but it held my attention and won awards. We are nearly finished and will continue to get more experiences with Hulu. At least until October 21st when our month is up. So far I am saying we are at least 50% probable of keeping it. After all, $7.99 is the price of a sandwich!

All Out of Windows

Sunday Morning Bike Ride

Jason surprised Keri and me by showing up at 7:00 AM. This must mean that we are getting predictable. It was a fun day on the trail. When the leaves fall it creates a different view of things that you see in mid-summer. A Red-tailed Hawk flew low and right over our heads. Deer crossed in front of us and more were seen just beyond the tree line. Numerous little ground squirrels. Many flocks of Geese and a flock of Wild Turkeys. It seemed there was something cool to see most every which way you looked!
Today's pictures from the trail: Morning sunrise

Geese

 Wild Turkeys. They were so far away that I would not have been able to get this shot without my Nikon CoolPix P900

Where do I begin...

Dental update
Once again we made a run to Atlantic for Butch to see the dentist. I thought, "Great, This isn't going to be any big deal." "Perhaps we can get some visiting in."
On about Tuesday or Wednesday, Butch asked me to look in his mouth because it felt like there was something in there that shouldn't be. He was right. There was a piece of gold perhaps connected to a piece of tooth in the hole created by the removal of the tooth and root. So we thought perhaps it would work its way out. Along about Thursday he talked me into trying to pull it out. He kept closing his mouth and I could not get a grip on it. So Friday morning we call and they tell us to come in. It was almost if not completely as traumatic as the first go round. He was in severe pain and spitting all the way home. Once home and with a couple of pain pills in him he quickly rebounded to reasonably good health.
So my Atlantic area friends- Maybe next time?

Weather and Birds
We have had a streak of unseasonably warm weather- in the 90's and very little rain. So Butch has been keeping the birdbath filled with fresh water and the birds are very grateful.
We have several Doves and they seem young. They are a beautiful bird. Difficult to photograph as they seem to be skittish and fighting each other most of the time.

Todays Walk on the trail.
I would prefer to ride but the walnuts are a problem. I'm thinking I might do a bike run with the sole purpose of clearing the trail of walnuts. I keep hoping someone else will think of it and beat me to it.

Today's sightings on the trail consisted of 4 bikers, 4 deer, 2 cats and three Bob-White Quail. I had my phone with me because it is easy so the pics are less than ideal. The Quail are not at all spooked as I walked beside them for quite a ways. That and now they are in town, less than a 1/2 block from the elementary school.

Latest window project

This craft project has been fun and incredibly easy.

History and story of My Favorite Chair
Years ago when we were first taking a stab at the full-timing lifestyle I bought a chair at a furniture store in Lees Summit MO. I loved the chair. It fits me, and is perhaps the most comfortable chair I have ever had. It is made by BEST. Yes, the name of the chair is BEST.
After several years use it became worn and shabby looking. It was still comfy as all get out but did not look the best. So we went on a search for a new BEST chair and we found them at Nebraska Furniture Mart. We were looking to buy 3, one new one for the house and two new ones for the motorhome. They are not the same chair. My original chair sits in the 3 season room and every time I would sit in it I was once again reminded of how comfortable it was. It is a far cry from the 3 others we have. So I decided to have it recovered. I had a hard time finding someone to do it but finally found Pam Chance in Jamaica Iowa.
Chance Upholstery, Jamaica Iowa 515-314-0290 It is done and we now have the chair back in the 3 season room looking very fine and feeling wonderful. It has picked up and off odor from her shop and I am working on getting rid of that but I am most happy with the chair and Pam's work.

And there you have it for now.

Butch's Trip to the Dentist

Butch had his root canal job finished and an exposed root removed from a lost tooth. He was in the process for 1 1/2 hours and did not feel very chipper afterward. So for those of you who know his dentist is in Atlantic, please forgive us for not stopping by. Butch did not feel like visiting so we returned home.
The trip down and back took up a big chunk of the day in itself. He is still in recovery mode this morning. Having a go at breakfast right now and hoping for the best. 

Window craft project

Butch replaced the window in the garage when the new siding was applied. He was going to toss the old one but I protested. It is in rough shape but there was a craft project I wanted to try.

I did clean it up a bit before I started.

And here is the final result

Method: Find coloring book pages and print them off. I found mine online by searching coloring book pages of flowers. Then I cut the pages and chose the flowers I wanted, Taped them to the backside of glass and then traced around all the lines with a permanent ink Sharpie. Paint them just like you would on paper only using paint.

Tracing around all the lines is important. If you do not you lose detail. Now I want to do another one!

Sunday's Bike trail walk

Keri, Jason and I walked the bike trail Sunday and we were discussing the hurricanes, soil content, and elevations among other things. Where we winter in Texas the elevation is around 50 feet and I guessed Jefferson to be 1014 ft. So I googled it and here is what I found. I wasn't too far off.

Nose to the grindstone

We all have tolerance levels for various things, like lawnmowing and house cleaning. I have kept my mind focused on getting things done outside. Cleaning flower beds and flower pots and doing some fundamental cleaning on my corner of the garage.
In the meantime, things tend to get left undone in the house. So today I kept at it till it was done and on top of that I cleaned a bit deeper and more thoroughly than I normally do. So tonight I am tired but gratified to have it clean and off my list for at least a day or two.
I did ride out to Bullhead farm on Thursday and I have a few pictures of the day. The first one that comes to mind was a flash of red. I was crossing the trestle bridge with no mind to stop and then I saw a flash of red on the outside of the rail and so I stopped to see what it was. It was a vine that climbed up onto the bridge.
This was the flash of red that caught my eye.

 And this is a better view of what it was.

 And then I looked up and saw a bigger flash of red in a tree!

 River pics

I do not usually take pictures from this part of the bridge. The rail is exactly in the wrong place for me to get good photos up river or down river.
Before I rode the trail I was looking out the front door and spotted this boy taking his dog for a run. The traffic was much busier than usual and I thought it to be a dangerous situation.

And then there is my geranium. It was gifted to me in the Spring and it was a little too big for its britches so I repotted it. It has really come into its own this summer. It is so sad to know it will not make it past winter. Anyone want to adopt this grown-up baby.

Today's photos

Butch and I have been a whirlwind of activity today. Yesterday Jason helped me get my landscape fabric over my hostas with holes cut so they can grow through. To back up a bit, I had been wanting some hostas so I asked a Master Gardener I know if she planned to thin some hostas or knew anyone who was and she told me that it is a myth that hostas need to be thinned. She said hostas are one plant that will take care of itself. On one hand that is good news for after I have them established but not so good for when I want some to plant. So rather than run myself ragged trying to find some, I ordered some online and Butch helped me get them planted last Friday. I received them last Wednesday, planted on Friday and they were visibly growing on Sunday. Not bad so far. $30 for 11 plants. So today I wanted to get them mulched. I put bowls over the plants to speed up the mulching process. Butch brought me the mulch and I finished in no time. I took this photo while waiting for the mulch. The upside down flower pot is another project.

I was going to toss the orange pot because it was past its prime but decided to turn it upside down, paint it and add a plate for a bird feeder. In the picture, it is an experiment before painting to see if I thought it was worth the effort. I did and will take a picture of the finished project later. Also while waiting for the mulch to arrive I took these photos:

Painted lady with frazzled right wing on miniature hollyhock.

             
 Lawn mower garage and storage shed and Rhubarb patch

Then Butch went golfing and when he returned he did some maintenance on the motorhome. Checked the batteries and filled them with water and cleaned those two bins. I went for a bike ride, not all the way to Winkleman's Switch but only to Rogers Road. There was a strong southerly breeze this morning. I stopped at this spot and kicked all the walnuts off the trail. There were other places where there were walnuts but this was the worst spot.

These next shots were taken as I was sitting at the computer looking in the back yard birdbath/satellite dish. I kept all three of these shots because this young house finch is saying something different in each one.

 Finished feeder project

Friday's Photos

Painted Ladies...

   
And Bailey Starr (Mickey's puppy)

Updated face

All is well with my face. Still looks a bit rough but sure looks and feels much better to me.
I have a lump that I now call my unicorn horn that the surgeon says will go away in 3-4 months. I told him that he got my unicorn horn a little off center. Where the actual cut was made and cancer removed looks very well and you will soon not be able to see where it was.
Today's photos:

Looks much better with my glasses on.